Kolkata, September 08: GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan joined GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam on the lead spot after eighth round of the 4th Kolkata Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament at Gorky Sadan here today.
With two rounds remaining, the duo share the lead spot with 6.5 points apiece.
Playing white, Le had the advantage but he agreed to a quick draw against the defending champion GM Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic. The game was a Queens Gambit and lasted only 24 moves.
The second board game was a fierce encounter between Filippov and GM Sandipan Chanda who made a valiant effort to win.
Sandipan had the black pieces but he managed to gain the positional advantage of the double bishops and pressed hard for a victory.
The local GM, however, fell into acute time trouble and was forced to give up a piece. He eventually resigned in a hopeless position on the 74th turn.
The third board game was another disappointing draw between two Azerbaijan GMs — top seed Shakriyar Mamedyarov and Eltaj Safarli.
IM S Satyapragyan of Orissa stunned GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia to earn his GM norm. He is also the highest ranked Indian with six points to his kitty.
—Agencies